Five more Canadian insurance companies have been served with class action lawsuits — in addition to six others first reported by the Star this month — for withholding medical benefit HST payments from car accident victims in violation of the provincial regulator.After just a week, scrutiny of the issue inspired some reconsideration by the industry, the Star’s investigation has found. Co-operators, Wawanesa, Economical, Commonwell and Echelon were served individual lawsuits Thursday, each alleging $100 million in damages for HST costs on medical benefits that were passed on to claimants. The practice, according to the claims, is in defiance of repeated demands from the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), which regulates the industry.A week earlier, Intact, Aviva, Unifund Assurance, Belairdirect, Certas Direct and Allstate received nearly identical claims. The 11 suits, which have not been certified or tested in court, now claim a total of $1.1 billion in damages. Each statement of claim alleges the companies engaged in “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” by failing to pay or reimburse HST on medical benefits or by including HST in calculating a claimant’s benefit limits.Since 2009, FSCO has issued a dozen notices and guidelines to the industry making clear HST on medical benefit claims is to be paid by insurers.Spokespersons for all 11 companies either declined or did not respond to requests for interviews. Only Aviva issued a written statement earlier this month, saying the company “has followed the industry position on HST being included within the maximum benefit amounts … and continues to support this interpretation.”A week later, new statements from two of the largest insurers signalled change.On Friday, Intact spokesperson Hazel Tan wrote: “We can confirm that we are paying the HST and are not counting it towards the cap, as per current FSCO guidelines.”A statement Thursday f ...
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